Impressions from Saturday's 4A district 1 championship game

Lynnwood outlasts Arlington for championship

The final score may not indicate just how good of a basketball game it really was.

The Lynnwood girls basketball team defeated Arlington 61-49 on Saturday night to win the 4A district 1 tournament. The 12-point margin of victory doesn't begin to tell the whole story. For the better part of three quarters this was the best basketball game I had seen all season, boys and girls included. The Royals made shots in the fourth quarter and seemed to wear down the Eagles creating a comfortable margin at the final buzzer, but this game was anything but comfortable for either team.

The atmosphere was incredible. The Mountlake Terrace High School gym was packed and it was loud from the opening tip to the final buzzer. Arlington came out on fire, making four of its first five 3-pointers and building a seven-point lead. Lynnwood stayed the course. The Royals offense was clicking and they switched to man-to-man from zone on defense to slow down the Eagles shooters.

The takeaway from this basketball game for me is how good not only Lynnwood is, but Arlington also. And really I can include Lake Stevens, who defeated Snohomish soundly in the third place game as well.

Lynnwood improved to 22-1 on the season and there is no question in my mind they are one of the favorites to win a state championship. But Arlington isn't far behind. Sure the Eagles lost both of their games with Lynnwood this season, but both games were close throughout and extremely competitive. If Lynnwood is a better team, it isn't by much.

The final day of the girls district tournament should give hope to anyone associated with Wesco that this year can be a special year at the Tacoma Dome. If Lake Stevens gets past their regional play-in game on Tuesday against Newport than the Royals, Eagles and Vikings will represent Wesco in the regional round.

Regionals are where it gets tricky because the games are loser-out. But all three teams are more than capable of winning their games and Lynnwood and Arlington should both have favorable match ups.

What I took from Saturday is that it is my belief that of the eight teams that play for the state championship in Tacoma, three of them will be from Wesco. Three out of eight is pretty good odds. Of those three teams I would certainly give the nod to Lynnwood, though I think any of them are capable of winning.

Depending on how the bracket shakes out I think all three teams are more than capable of winning a state championship. That should make it a lot of fun for Wesco basketball fans and a lot of work for three Herald Prep Writers.

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